My ancestors who came from the small towns of Irsch, Oberzerf and Serrig in Kreis Saarburg, Rhineland, were peasant farmers or craftsmen. In the mid-19th century they left these villages and immigrated to the woodlands of Calumet County, Wisconsin to search for a better life. By means of this blog, take the opportunity to look into their houses, explore their villages, understand their daily labors and customs, and see how the lure of a new life in America called to them.

Pages

Sunday, April 09, 2006

The Government Bureaucracy and the Immigrant Ancestor

Beurig, once a village with its own mayor, is today a part of the city of Saarburg

THE IMMIGRATION DOCUMENTS

In October, 2004 I went to the Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz Archiv in an attempt to locate a copy of the passport for my great-great grandfather and his family who left Irsch in 1861. While I didn't find the passport, I had the chance to gently handle the actual immigration documents that were handwritten by the Burgermeister of Beurig/Irsch at the time of application; a rare opportunity that I will always treasure. These documents, along with hundreds of others from the Saarburg district, were bound in a volume that spanned the time period from January of 1859 to May of 1862. (Earlier and later volumes of application papers are also held at the Archive).

As I turned pages in the leather-bound book of applications, I confirmed that within the space of a few weeks in February and March of 1861, thirty inhabitants of the village of Irsch, including my 2nd great grandfather and his family, were granted permission to emigrate to America. These thirty people would soon travel together to Wisconsin to begin a new life in an unknown land. The men were also officially renouncing their Prussian citizenship. They were ready to take an enormous risk to improve their lives and the futures of their children.

WHY DID SO MANY LEAVE?

According to historian J. Bellot, the first half of the nineteenth century was a time when economic conditions in Germany were very bad. Wages were miserably poor and prices were rising. Factories were replacing the handworkers, and before 1850 there was already heavy migration out of the Trier and Saarburg districts.

Many chose to find a place where they could have land of their own and to be free from high taxes, especially the Klassensteuer of the Prussian Government. The Trier district also had exceedingly high church assessments from 1857 onward.

Then there were the "agents", men who promised to facillitate the trip. Some of these travel agents were honest; others were not. And a few of the agents in Germany were actually sent by the State of Wisconsin to find settlers to populate the state. They carried with them a pamphlet published in 1848 by German immigrant Carl De Haas. It was called NORTH AMERICA WISCONSIN; HINTS FOR EMIGRANTS. It had been written by Haas to help others who were considering the same trip he had made. Haas pointed out that Wisconsin had cheap land available - it was sold for $1.25 an acre in most cases - and Wisconsin was the first state in the Union to require just one year of residency to become a citizen (LeVern Rippley, OF GERMAN WAYS).

"America letters came from relatives or neighbors who had left their villages in the 1840's and 1850's. There were stories of cheap land, good crops, and success. In this 1846 letter, an immigrant writes to his relatives in the Rhineland from someplace near Milwaukee, Wisconsin: "Immediately I found land to purchase...I purchased a piece of property of 40 acres, which is the same as 55 Prussian acres. On this property stands a house and two pig stalls. Along with this we also received two beautiful oxen, one cow, one steer, eight pigs, eight chickens, the oven with which we cook and bake, one bed, one cabinet, one grindstone, and all farm equipment...We also got a garden, a beautiful garden, which had all kinds of beautiful plants...The beautiful melons were a special joy for me...We have enough here to live in abundance. It is a peaceful and contented life. No tax-collectors. Come here!"

By 1861 the railroads were crisscrossing Germany. Already in 1852, a rail line from Forbach (near Saarbrucken) to Havre made it easier for the emigrants from the Saarburg area to reach an Atlantic port. (Mergen, Josef, Die Auswanderungen aus den ehemals preussichen Teilen des Saarlandes im 19. Jahrhundert). On May 25, 1860, the railroad line connecting Trier with Saarbrucken was officially opened. The immigrant from the Saarburg area could finally reach the port of LeHavre in France entirely by rail. (Hammaecher, Klaus, SERRIG: LANDSCHAFT, GESCHICHTE & GESCHICHTEN, Saarburger Satz & Druck GmbH, Saarburg, 2002)

OFFICIAL REACTION TO INCREASING EMIGRATION

By the 1860's, the steady flow of emigrants to America was causing government officials to worry. They had assumed that the majority of immigrants would be day laborers and small farmers who teetered on the edge of destitution. There was, they had thought, little to be gained by trying to retain these people and then support them if they became improverished. But many of these first immigrants found that they could flourish in their adopted country; and they wrote to their relatives, encouraging them to leave Germany too. Hard-working, ordinary farmers and craftsmen began to leave the Rhineland in increasing numbers. In some villages, up to a third of the population had emigrated by the 1870's.

As they watched this "out wandering", government officials finally realized that the men who paid taxes and provided stability to the economy were being lost at an alarming rate. Hoping to stem this tide, the Prussian government prepared a standard list of warnings and advisements. The local mayors were required to read them to each person requesting permission to leave the country.

THE EMIGRATION INTERVIEW

A typical interview between a resident of the village of Irsch or Beurig seeking permission to leave the country and Burgermeister Nicholaus Bodem of Beurig might proceed something like this:

Burgermeister Bodem would probably ask the applicant to give his - or in some cases, her - reason for wanting to renounce Prussian citizenship in order to go to a new country; then record the answer. The Burgermeister would next read from the the official list of warnings. He would caution the applicant that not everyone found a good life in the new country; some were cheated badly and found themselves living in poverty. If life in the new land is not successful, he would say, you will no longer be a Prussian citizen. You may not be allowed to return to the home country. (Because of the time period in which my great-great grandfather applied for his passport, he was also cautioned that the United States was dangerously close to a civil war that might make travel within America dangerous or even impossible).

If the applicant persisted in requesting permission, the mayor asked for the details of his financial situation. The applicant had to give proof that he had no debts or fines. He had to document that he had completed his military service. Finally, when all seemed to be in order, a fee of 15 Silbergroschen, was paid. Burgermeister Bodem would end the session with the following advice. This advice, like the warnings, was required by governmental order.

1. Use the regular immigration office in Köln or Koblenz and do not trust underhanded agents in setting up travel.

2. Keep a record of payment of any bookings made so as not to have to pay a second time

3. Get explicit statements in the contracts with shippers or other persons regarding the voyage so that all is clear and so that help can be obtained from the Prussian consulate if difficulties arise.

4. Be watchful at the harbor for anyone trying to entice emigration to a South American country where slavery will probably result.

It took from 14 days to four weeks for the documents of dismissal to be processed. Once the document had all the necessary signatures, the prospective immigrant was given his travel pass and allowed to begin preparations for his journey. He had become a foreigner in the country he had so recently called his homeland.

7 comments:

Kathy, interesting topic, especially the interviews that the mayor did. Looking for emigration reasons, You forgot the political aspect, I think. After the failed democratic revolution of 1848, many people emigrated because of the iliberal and unprogressive prussian political system. The prussian constitution was very undemocratic compared with the U.S. Constitution. There was no free press and nearly no civil rights. Another, very important reason was the prussian draught system. From 1814 on (for Trier and the reion it started one year later) every male between 17 and 45 had to serve three full years in the Prussian Army which was known for its harsh drill and discipline. Especially before the "Exerzier-Reglement" in the second half of the 19th ct., the system was inhuman compared to our standards. After your time as active soldier, you had to join the reserve for 4 or 5 years (depending on wether you served in the army, navy, cavalry or artillery). After the reserve-time you where "landwehrpflichtig" for 5 years (2 years for navy, cavallry and artillery), The Landwehr was something like a militia. After this time you belonged to the "Landsturm" until your 45th birthday. It is known from many emigrant-letters that this was a significant reason to leave Prussia and Germany. Sometimes, young men fled, when they got their "Gestellungbefehl". Don`t know what system the US had before the civil war, but I`m sure it was not so rigid as the prussian draught system. Until today, Prussia is a synonym for "army" and "military" in the region. I remember the day, when I was draughted for the german army. I told my grandma and she said "Oh, you`ve to go to the Prussians!"Greetings from sunny GermanyErnst

Ernst,Thank you for your comments. Your information on military service in Prussia is something I am very glad to get. I did omit some of the reasons for emigration - and the political and military aspects were important. So were the inheritance laws (in Irsch and Zerf) which divided land between all of the children. Maybe an addendum post?Kathy

Kathy, I was so glad to find your website. I am an author writing about the flight of the French Huguenots from the persecution of the French government in 17th century France. The first book, In The Shadow Of The Sun King, is due out in Sept. '08. In the sequel, my ancestors fled to Geneva then to the Palatinate around Auerbach, Baden Germany. I am desperate for resources regarding this period in Germany. I'm not finding much at all. Can you help me? Thanking you in advance. Golden Keyes Parsons

I'm not sure if I can help. I do have some questions to help me clarify what you are looking for. Since I don't know anything about your ancestors' background, I am not sure what social class they were. I also don't know if you read German. Do you want just everyday life over a period of time in the Palatinate? How long were your ancestors there?

I would like just general information about everyday life in the Palatinate in the late 1600's. I did find some information by researching the Black Forest area. I cannot seem to find out anything about Auerbach. Was it just a small village? Was Baden a province, a state? I know Germany was not unified until the late 1800's. I do have information about the journeys of the Huguenots from Germany down the Rhine to Amsterdam to board ships for America. My struggle is in finding how they lived while in Germany. They were there several years, I believe.

Unfortunately, I do not read German. I am indebted to you for any help you can give me.

I would like just general information about everyday life in the Palatinate in the late 1600's. I did find some information by researching the Black Forest area. I cannot seem to find out anything about Auerbach. Was it just a small village? Was Baden a province, a state? I know Germany was not unified until the late 1800's. I do have information about the journeys of the Huguenots from Germany down the Rhine to Amsterdam to board ships for America. My struggle is in finding how they lived while in Germany.

Unfortunately, I do not speak German. I am indebted to you for any help you can give me.

Translate

About Me

I am Kathy Gosz, a retired library director, writing a history about my Rhineland ancestors. I want it to be filled with the details of their daily lives in Germany and later in Wisconsin. I am drawing from genealogical research, from notes taken at workshops, from historical plaques and markers, from conversations, e-mails, and the internet, but especially from local histories written in German which have been accumulated on several trips to Germany. While I love historical research, I do not love organizing my materials. This blog offers one way to keep track of the most pertinent information and to make it useful to other people as well. These posts are copyrighted by the author.

The Maibaum in Konz, Kreis Saarburg In choosing a blog post for each month, I want to share some history or custom that is m...

Blog Comments

Thank you for reading my blog posts and for the encouragement you have given me by leaving a comment or sending an e-mail.

I am glad to get your e-mails, but may I make a gentle suggestion? If you type your comments in the comment section located at the end of each post, I will receive that comment as an e-mail. And if you have a question or a thought that might help someone else, everybody gains when you use the comment section.

But whatever format you decide to use, I will be delighted to hear from you.